The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 95: Daughter First, Silver Second

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Daughter First, Silver Second

The men hurriedly swallowed their cakes and under Doctor Liu’s command, carefully lifted Wang Yongfu from the ground onto the stretcher.

Wang Yongfu groaned a couple of times but showed no other symptoms. Doctor Liu then found some ropes to secure Wang Yongfu to the stretcher, and then waved his hand, "Let’s go!"

The Li Family Brothers immediately stepped forward, crouched down, and two other men lifted the stretcher onto their shoulders. They then stood up, lifting the stretcher, and hastened toward the town,

Wang Laozhu and Doctor Liu guarded on either side, watching over him at all times.

Lady Lin followed behind, crying and jogging all the way.

The rest of the men naturally followed behind, ready to take over when the Li Family Brothers grew exhausted.

Wang Yongzhu instructed Wang Yongping, "Remember who helped us today. When you get to town, your brother’s injury is the most important thing. Don’t worry about anything else, no matter what medicine the doctor says is needed, or how much silver. Just agree to it, understand?"

Wang Yongping nodded repeatedly.

"I’ll go back with mother today to take care of things at home. We’ll also come to town early tomorrow, so go quickly! Father is getting old, his health is not good, everything depends on you now!"

Wang Yongping looked at his younger sister’s composed face and her orderly instructions, and the panic that had overwhelmed him slowly settled.

Now, with the old and the young in the family, everything depended on him! As a man, he couldn’t let a woman, his younger sister, take charge at a time like this!

"Don’t worry! I’m off!" Wang Yongping patted Wang Yongzhu’s shoulder and turned, striding fast to catch up.

Jindou, Jinhu, and Jinguan had already taken the opportunity of the adults’ distraction to slip into the group and follow along.

Wang Yongzhu and Old Granny Zhang watched as the procession quickly disappeared at the end of the mountain road.

The mother and daughter leaned on each other and walked slowly toward home. After leaving Yangjiapu, they had walked quite a distance before they felt someone was following them.

Looking back, they saw Song Chongjin leisurely following with his bamboo tube. When Wang Yongzhu turned around, he quickened his pace, handed her the bamboo tube, and then sped off ahead, walking away rapidly.

Under any other circumstance, Old Granny Zhang would definitely have a word or two to say, but at that moment, she had no mood for it.

She was worried about the Eldest Brother’s injury, and also distressed about the silver that had been spent!

She turned back to look toward the mountain road and said, "My girl, do you think your big brother can be cured? How much does it cost to see a doctor in town? It’s such a sin! Your father already said not to go digging wild yams, but they had to listen to that ill-starred Lin Xinghua, disregarding your father’s words like wind beside their ears! Look what happened now, he fell like that, and it’s probably beyond help. What are we going to do in the future with just the old and the young? How will we live our days ahead?"

"I was against marrying that ill-starred Lin Xinghua from the start, but it was your late grandma who insisted on giving her to your eldest brother! That cursed old woman, it’s all her fault for your eldest brother’s fate! And my silver, that’s the money for Laosi’s marriage and your dowry! If his condition can be cured, then at least the Eldest Brother can work to repay it, but if not, all that money will go down the drain!"

Wang Yongzhu was at a loss for words. At such a critical moment, with a human life at stake, her elderly mother was still fixated on the silver?

It was difficult to broach the subject and give advice, for in Old Granny Zhang’s heart, her daughter came first and silver second. How could she not be heartbroken?

Moreover, Wang Yongfu’s injury was considered serious even in the medically advanced era I come from, and if it damaged any nerves, the result could be paralysis or amputation.

Not to mention in this era with even more backward medical practices!

But these words couldn’t be said to Old Granny Zhang; otherwise, she might regret it even more.

So I could only resort to the art of deception and persuasion: "Mother, didn’t Doctor Liu say that Doctor Ma in town is skilled in treating this kind of injury? Maybe Big Brother, being favored by fortune, could be healed! As long as Big Brother recovers, we can earn the silver back in the future! Besides, aren’t I learning embroidery now? Once I master it, I’ll embroider to earn money to support you and Dad! Just take it easy, I will be able to support both of you for sure. I’ll buy you meat every day, silken clothes to wear, and when we have enough money, I’ll even hire two maids to serve you. How does that sound?"

"Nonsense! Won’t you marry someday? Where is there a married daughter who still supports her own parents? All I want is for you to be safe and sound. If you marry a good man and live a prosperous life, that’s enough for me. Supporting parents has always been the sons’ responsibility from ancient times. What are those brothers of yours doing? I raised them, are they not going to support me when I’m old? Wouldn’t that just let them off the hook?" Old Granny Zhang was coaxed into dismissing it as nonsense, yet her eyes crinkled with a smile.

Seeing that Old Granny Zhang’s thoughts had been diverted, Wang Yongzhu wiped away her cold sweat and went along with Old Granny Zhang’s complaints, both mother and daughter supporting each other as they returned home.

As they neared home, Wang Yongzhu could still see Song Chongjin’s figure pausing in the middle of the road. Then, with a twist of his feet, he didn’t head in the direction of his home but instead entered the mountains?

Wang Yongzhu took an extra glance, unable to help wondering, "Why go up the mountain at this time?"

But the voices coming from the courtyard quickly threw this curiosity out of Wang Yongzhu’s mind.

Inside, as soon as Old Granny Zhang entered the house and saw the mess inside, all resulting from her hurried search for silver that she hadn’t yet had the chance to tidy up.

As she cleaned up, mourning the loss of the silver, when she got to the cabinet where the grain was stored, she suddenly remembered that Laosan’s house had used some to bake pancakes for those who had lent a hand.

She immediately found her key tied around her neck and opened the grain cabinet to find the bags containing buckwheat flour and sorghum flour had dwindled significantly.

Oh, the heartache!

No longer caring about tidying the room, she burst out in anger: "Laosan’s family, get out here this instant! You’re all trying to turn the world upside down, aren’t you? Taking advantage of my absence to sneak grains for making pancakes for outsiders? Betraying your own family, are you trying to empty out Old Wang Family’s home..."

Lady Jiang’s eyes were swimming with aggrieved tears, and although she wanted to say something in her defense, she didn’t know where to start. Even if she mentioned that her younger sister-in-law had instructed her, she feared that her mother-in-law would still blame her.

She felt utterly disheartened.

Wang Yongzhu heard this and inwardly cursed. She had been so focused on getting her Big Brother to town for urgent care that she had forgotten Lady Jiang’s predicament.

She could not let Lady Jiang take the blame for this!

Rushing through the door, she closed the courtyard gate behind her and went up to pull on Old Granny Zhang, speaking with an especially calm and collected tone: "Mother, it was me who ordered my sister-in-law to bake the pancakes. I heard from Jindou that Big Brother’s wound wasn’t that severe, so I thought that Doctor Liu, who only treats minor ailments like headaches and fevers, might delay Big Brother’s treatment if not good enough. Also, it would take time to go back and forth to the town, right? So I had her make some pancakes to fill our own stomachs."

"I was just thinking, it’d be too embarrassing to arrive in town and have to munch on some wild greens and sorghum pancakes. We can afford better, and for such a minor issue, to lose the Wang Family’s face would be shameful. If word got back to the village, would we ever be able to show our faces again? That’s why I told my sister-in-law to use proper ingredients and not lose any dignity! Mother, you see how thoroughly I thought this through. With my sister-in-law’s simplistic mind, would she consider so much? It’s only because I take after you that I’m this clever!"

By the end, she was holding Old Granny Zhang’s arm, looking up at her expectantly for praise.